


The New Girl

by orphan_account



Category: Watch Dogs (Video Games)
Genre: Drabble, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2018-10-04 12:04:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 18
Words: 18,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10277450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A drabble about a Wrench x Reader story. It's subject to change and not my best work, but thanks for reading.





	1. Chapter 1

"Just what do you think you're doing?" A voice behind me asked.

I jumped, slamming my netbook shut and turning 180 degrees. "Who the hell-"I demanded, shoving my netbook into its case, then slinging it over my shoulder.

"I'm Marcus." The man said, holding out his hand. "From Dedsec."

"Oh," I said, shaking his hand. "Hello, I guess. What are you doing here?"

He raised an eyebrow and nodded at the netbook at my hip. "Why are you hacking our servers?"

I shrugged, feigning innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about. There is free Wi-Fi here and I'm a student-"

He held up a hand. "Save it. We're not stupid. You almost made it past the firewall, but a friend of mine caught it just in time." He looked me over "You're good." I shook my head, beginning to walk away. "You're also an anonymous whistle blower inside of Blume.' I stopped in my tracks. "You're a double agent."

I whirled around and pointed a finger in his face. "Watch what you say."

He pointed to a camera on the corner. "Your cTos profile is hidden, however facial recognition matched you to your !Nvite account within minutes." He frowned. "We thought you'd be better at hiding your tracks."

I smirked to myself. "So to what do I owe the pleasure of meeting you?"

"I'm here to warn you." He said, turning serious. "Either leave us alone, or face the consequences."

"Good luck with that." I smiled brightly, then walked away.

*Inside the Hackerspace; Sometime later*

"How'd it go?" Sitara asked as Marcus walked down the long staircase.

"Fine." He shrugged. "We're just lucky Josh caught it. I caught a glimpse of her code, impressive stuff."

Wrench walked over, exclamation points appearing on his mask. "It was a girl?"

Sitara pushed him lightly. "Girls can code like bosses."

The exclamation points changed to question marks. "Did I hit a sore spot?"

Marcus shrugged and opened his mouth to say something when Josh shouted; "No, no, no!" Everyone rushed over as he frantically typed on the keyboard. "No, get out!" Suddenly all the screens went black and the power went out. Everything powered back on and Josh slammed his fist onto the counter. Just then a laughing emoji appeared on every screen and it flashed from black to white multiple times. Then rock music came blaring threw the speakers. Then a female voice came over the music.

"Perhaps I covered my tracks much better than you expected." The voice laughed, then there Josh shouted over it all.

"They're copying all of our data!"

*One week later*

I rolled over and grabbed my phone from the nightstand. _One unread message._ I opened my messaging app and just saw a location. "William Finn." It read, with the address following. I stood, got dressed and walked out the door.

I got there in about ten minutes and parked down the street, walking over to the building across the street. I spotted Marcus standing outside and he nodded to me. I walked over and he frowned deeply. "What do you need without data?"

"It took you long enough to find the number." I said, smirking.

He looked pissed. "There was over 750 lines of code! Most of it was bullshit that we had to wade through."

"And? "I asked, looking him over.

A woman came out from the store and stood next to Marcus. "It's impressive." The woman said. "You broke down our defenses. No one has done that before."

I raised a brow. "You another Dedsec member?" I asked.

"Sitara." She introduced herself. "Now, down to business. We want you to join us."

"Excuse me?" I asked. "Why? Because I hacked in so quickly?"

"Because we know you could be a valuable ally." Sitara said.

"Or a devastating foe." I countered.

She frowned, but Marcus spoke. "You're the daughter of the new CEO of Blume. We found your real name, and you address." He handed me a napkin with my information on it. "We can blackmail you if we need to."

I frowned and tore up the napkin. "Fine. I'll join."

Sitara smiled. "Good. Come on, I'll take you to the Hackerspace." She wrapped her arm in mine and pulled me down the street.

"I have a car." I informed her.

"Will walking kill you, rich girl?" She asked.

I frowned. "Possibly."


	2. Chapter 2

We walked into a café, and I was about to be very disappointed when she led me to the back and typed a code into a keypad on the wall. The door opened and she pulled me down the stairs. Almost falling, I tried to keep up with her. She let go of me and I careened into the table. "Josh!" She sung, "I found your hacker friend."

A man wearing a green hoodie rushed over to me. "How did you get past my firewall?" He asked.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"How did you get in?"

I laughed. "You must be Marcus's 'friend'."

He frowned deeply. "I can't figure out how you got in. You tripped the security system then were scrubbed out. How did you get in after that?"

"You opened the door." I told him. The rest of the members were trying to ignore us, but I knew they were listening. "That !Nvite page was the virus."

He was quiet, then rushed over to the computer. I turned around to ask Sitara something but I was instead met by a masked man just a few centimeters from me. I shouted and jumped back, punching the mask. The man jerked backwards as I shook my now bleeding hand. "What the fuck?" He demanded in a robotic tone.

"I could ask you the same thing." I said, rubbing my burning hand.

"That's Wrench." Marcus said, finally entering the Hackerspace. "I know you already met Josh, and Ray is out somewhere, but this is it." Marcus noticed my hand. "What happened?"

"She punched me in the face!" Wrench shouted, X's appearing on screen.

"I turned around and you were in my face!" I countered, seething with embarrassment and anger.

Marcus laughed. "Did you not see the spikes on it?"

"I was acting on instinct." I defended myself, turning red. "I'm sorry but what was I supposed to do?"

Wrench's eyes turned into question marks, then exclamation points. "Not punch me?"

I shook my head. "Do you have a first aid kit?"

Marcus shook his head. "The café upstairs has a bathroom."

I nodded. "I'll be right back."

As the door shut behind her, Marcus barked out a laugh. "She punched you?"

Wrench glared at Marcus, his eyes turning angry. "It hurt, okay?"

"Her hand was covered in blood!" Marcus exclaimed. "She got you good. Why were you so close to her?"

Exclamation points appeared, then disappeared just as quickly, turning into normal eyes. "You didn't tell me she was hot. I was surprised."

Marcus turned to Sitara. "Why does that matter?"

Sitara shrugged. "He gets weird when a girl he likes is around." She said, not looking up from her phone.

Marcus frowned. "What happened to the waitress?"

Wrench shrugged. "Some guy named Sean."

Marcus frowned. "When did Sean come around?"

"About a week ago."

"I'm sorry man." Marcus said, patting Wrench's spiked shoulder. "Damn, those are sharp.

I was able to clean up my hand, but unable to find any bandages. Sadly, the store clerk didn't have any and it wouldn't stop bleeding. I frowned and pulled off my over shirt, wrapping it around the few puncture wounds on my hand. I walked back to the keypad and typed in the code I had seen earlier. I walked back down the stairs and looked around. Everyone was working on something, so I pulled out my netbook and sat on the couch. Using my good hand I began typing and opened up the !Nvite exploit I had been working on. Obviously it could be used to deliver a virus, but I wanted it to check it for any holes. I typed slower with one hand, but it would have to do until I got a better bandage.

I was deep in thought when I heard a cough behind me. I jumped and turned seeing the masked man again. "Wrench!" I yelled. "What happened last time?" I shook my head and looked back at my screen.

"Sorry," He said. "I was just…. I …. Uh, how is your hand?"

I held up my terribly bandaged hand in response. "It's still bleeding."

His eyes turned to X's which were reflected back to me via my screen. "Shouldn't you… bandage it better?"

"My car is still at William Finn and I don't feel like walking." I grumbled. "I'll drive it over later. I'm a bit busy now, plus I don't like to drive one-handed." I began typing again, but knew he hadn't left. "Anything else?" I asked, turning around.

"How…Uh- who is going to bring your car back?" He asked, question marks appearing.

I sighed and opened a program. I waited a moment then the interior of my car showed up. I typed in a few commands then the dash cam turned on. I started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. I pulled up to a stop sign, then turned on the auto-drive and set the parking spot across the street as the destination.

I turned back to him and he was just staring at the console opened on the side. "You wrote this program?"

"No." I said sarcastically. "I bought it on Nudle Plus."

He seemed to get excited and jumped over the couch, grabbing my netbook. "Who outfitted your car?"

"I did." I frowned. "It wasn't too difficult. Finding the parts was difficult, but-" He stood and brought my netbook over to Marcus. "Hey!" I shouted, following quickly.

"Marcus, look at this." He handed Marcus my netbook and I tried to take it back, but Marcus swatted my good hand away. "This would be perfect for the Haum hack."

"You're hacking Haum again?" I asked, grabbing my netbook.

Marcus nodded. "We need to keep them on their toes and keep them from repairing the damage we did." He frowned when he saw my hand. "How bad is it?"

"I punched that." I gestured to Wrench's mask. "How bad do you think it is?"

"You should go get that checked out." Marcus said, noticing the blood seeping through.

"And tell them what?" I asked. "That I punched a mask full of spikes when the guy wearing it got in my face?"

"Or," Wrench said. "You could have just not hit me!"

I shook my head. "I think my car has a first aid kit. It should be here soon."

"Can you send me your program?" Marcus asked.

"No." I said, shaking my head.

Marcus frowned. "Why not?"

"I want to help with the Haum hack." I said, placing my good hand on my hip.

He rolled his eyes. "You seem to be a good engineer. You and Wrench could outfit-"

Wrench's eyes turned into exclamation points. "You want us to work together?"

"It makes sense." He said, "He's good at pulling things apart and you seem to be good at putting them back together." I rolled my eyes. "Or we could go public with your secret life-"

"Fine." I snapped, just as my netbook dinged. "I'm going to bandage my hand correctly, then we can go and find a place to stash a car."

"Actually I own a garage." Wrench piped up. "I can show you it."

I knit my brows together. "Alright." I said. He walked away to grab something and I turned to Marcus. "Should I be concerned about him murdering me?"

He chuckled. "Not unless you break something of his."

"Great." I rolled my eyes, then left the Hackerspace.


	3. Chapter 3

I popped my trunk and searched through the tools until I found the dusty first aid kit. I pulled it out as Wrench came up from behind me and dropped his tools into the trunk. I moved out of the way as he closed the trunk. "Need some help?" He asked, looking at my hand.

"I'm good." I said, placing the kit on the trunk. I began unwrapping the shirt which was ruined. The more I pulled off, the worse it pulled on my hypersensitive skin. I winced as I pulled the rest of the shirt off, revealing a bloody mess. I opened the kit and pulled out the Hydrogen Peroxide. I held it with my bad hand and tried to twist the top, but couldn't get a good grip.

Wrench reached over and grabbed the bottle, then opened it. I thanked him, then took the bottle back and washed my hand off, revealing four clean puncture wounds and a lot of bruising. "I didn't mean to scare you." He said, his gaze dropping to the ground as I rummaged around for gauze.

"Water under the bridge," I said, finally finding the gauze. I wrapped it around damaged hand , then found a wrap which would keep it in place. I finished wrapping my hand up then closed the kit. "Ready to go?"

He nodded, then climbed into the passenger seat. He put the address into the GPS. "I'm sorry for punching you." I said as I pulled out of the parking spot. He looked up at me and he looked relieved.

"You have a pretty good right hook." He admitted.

He pressed a button on his phone as I turned into the garage and the door opened. I pulled in as far as I could, then shut the car off. We stepped out and his eyes turned into upturned arrows. "Home, sweet home."

"Nice paint job." I said, looking around and taking in the… chaos. "So what kind of car do we need?" I asked.

He turned to me. "A security car."

"How the hell do we get that?" I demanded.

His eyes began winking. "You already have a lot of security around your father's house."

"No." I said, holding up my hands. "We are not going to drag them into this."

His eyes turned angry, then into Xs. "So what do you suggest, princess?"

"Let's spoof someone's ID and go pick one up from the depot." I suggested.

Wrench crossed his arms and stared me down. "We have to clone someone's badge, and even then facial recognition would reject us and alert the police."

I place my hands on my hips. "I have access to their program, I can 'hire' anyone I want under any name I want. They've started using an electronic ID badge so I can get one easily. The only thing is… My face is pretty well known, so they would know something was wrong."

His mask display X's as he held up his hands. "Nope, the mask stays on."

I frowned. "Why? I mean, it's awesome and obviously has some pretty sweet tech inside, but why?"

He glared at me for a moment, then his eyes turned to hearts for a second before changing to normal eyes. "We should call Marcus."

Thankfully Marcus agreed and I logged onto the program and 'hired' him straight away. We were on the phone with him the entire time. I heard him walk up to the depot and flash his phone. "Good evening, Hannibal Lector." The computer read. Wrench snorted as Marcus scolded me.

"Really?" He asked over the phone.

"It was either that or Bruce Wayne," I shrugged. "You look more like a Hannibal."

I heard him sigh and climb into a car. "Alright." He said. "I'm coming to you guys."

Fifteen minutes later Marcus pulled into the garage and got out of the car. "Thanks, Hannibal." I said as he tossed Wrench the keys.

"Try not to blow anything up." Marcus said as he left the garage.

I frowned. "He was in a bad mood, wasn't he?"

Wrench shrugged and we got to work. We took the whole system out of my car and put it into the other vehicle. We couldn't find all the parts we needed so Wrench promised to fix my car up once we got all of the necessary pieces. It took all night and a lot of wielding, but we finally had it all set up.

I lay down on his couch and closed my eyes as I heard tire squeal. I jumped up just as the car took off. It went out the open garage door and came around the back way, then came to a screeching stop where it began. "A bit of a warning would have been nice!"

"Sorry," He said as a crying emoji flashed on screen. "Just wanted to triple check everything."

I shook my head and laid back down, sighing. "Well it's finally done. Do you have any caffeine?"

"I have beer." He offered, going to a cooler in the corner.

I stood. "Nah, I'm going to go and grab a soda."

"What's wrong with beer?" He asked, pulling out one for himself.

I wrinkled my nose. "I just don't like it."

X's flashed on his mask. "How can you not like beer?"

"It's a long story. I'll be back soon." I walked over to the corner where we moved my car and got inside. My hand was on fire, but I ignored it and pulled out of the garage.

*Meanwhile in the Garage*

"Dude," Wrench said over the phone. "She doesn't like beer!"

"And?" Marcus asked. "I know a lot of people who don't like beer. But you two finished the car?"

"Yes we did." He said. "She is a lot better with tools than I thought."

"Sounds like you're starting to like her more and more." Marcus teased. "Where is she anyways?"

"Said she needed caffeine." Wrench relayed. "We were working all night."

" _Working?"_ Marcus asked, laughing.

"Yes, working." He snapped. "I think the garage door is opening, come and pick it up when you're ready." He hung up the phone and slid his mask up, taking a huge swig of his beer.


	4. Chapter 4

As I pulled in I saw Wrench sitting in the car. I pulled over to the side and got out. I walked over and saw him pulling at the radio. "What's wrong with the radio?" I questioned.

"Nothing." He frowned, pulling the console out. "I'm just planting a bug."

"On the microphone line?" I questioned.

"Mmmmhmmm." He nodded, placing a tiny device on a wire then replacing the console.

I backed out and went back to my car. I grabbed the pain medication and my soda. I took a pill, chasing it with the Pepsi and sighing. Hopefully the pain will subside soon. I sat back down on the couch as Marcus entered the garage. "Hey guys, how's your hand feeling over there?"

"Same." I answered, closing my eyes. "Just took some pain meds."

"Good." Marcus nodded. "The car looks good."

"It's also bugged." Wrench informed him, fist bumping his friend.

"Sweet. Thanks guys." Marcus said as Wrench handed him a tablet.

"Anytime." I said. "But try to make it nighttime, I'm not a morning person."

He chuckled. "I will." He then climbed into the car and sped out of there. Wrench came and sat on the floor, leaning into the couch.

"So what got you here?" I asked, curious as to the masked man's origins.

He shrugged. "Long story, not really fun to talk about. What about you?"

"Are you just asking to ask or do you really want to know?" I asked, sliding down to the floor with him.

Question marks flashed as he turned to me. "There is almost nothing about you online and I am curious."

"Well," My eyes trailed to my feet. "I started coding when I was in seventh grade. I learned how to do it in order to hack the wifiWi-Fi router and give everyone free access. After that I just kept going."

He nodded. "Anything else?"

"Like what?" I asked, looking over at him.

"Why don't you like beer?" He asked.

I turned bright red and my heart rate spiked. "That is something I don't want to talk about."

Question marks flashed on screen, then circles. "I didn't know it was such a sensitive subject." He said.

"It's alright," I shrugged. "You have your secrets and I have mine."

*Three weeks later*

Wrench and I have been working on all of the new hardware for the past few weeks and we have been getting along really well. The rest of the team began getting closer to me as well. Wrench and I stayed in the garage most days, working on the hardware while Josh worked on the software. We stayed there so often that we moved in a bigger couch and would take turns crashing.

One night we were getting a new EMP ready to mess up Haum's CEO's house and I had fallen asleep on the couch. "Shit!" I heard Wrench shout. "Shit shit shit!" I sat up, shocked out of my sleep.

"What?" I asked, walking over to the pacing man.

"Haum is onto us," He said, kicking a box lying on the ground. "They have your name."

"My name?" I asked, running my fingers over my scarred knuckles. "How on Earth did they get that?"

"We have no idea." Sitara said over the phone. "But they said that they will retaliate against your family if we go through with the plan."

My heart sped up. "We are still going through with the plan." I said, shaking my head. "My family can take whatever they dish out."

"They could still come after you." Marcus pointed out over the phone.

I shrugged. "They could come after anyone of us." I walked over to the phone. "Nothing changes. The EMP will be ready tomorrow afternoon." I pressed the red button and the line went dead. "Did you work out the kinks yet?" I asked, turning to Wrench.

"Yeah." He said, winking. "I also worked out the issues with the EMP."

I rolled my eyes and grabbed the device. "Well, if it's done I'm going to go sleep in my own bed, the couch is great and all, but I'm tired."

His eyes turned into question marks then exclamation points, "Did you not just hear us tell you that they know who you are?"

"Yeah, I did, and I am tired." I yawned.

His eyes turned into circles. "You could go sleep at the Hackerspace-"

I walked over to my car and got in. "I'll see you in the morning, Wrench." He pulled out his phone and pressed a button. My car stopped and shut off. "Seriously?" I asked, getting out.

He shrugged. "Had to be done."

"Did they threaten me or my family?" I asked, glaring at him.

"Your family." He said. "But they could-"

I held up a finger and he shut up instantly. "My family should rot in hell. They are the scum of the Earth and that's why they are so good at running Blume." My eyes burned and now I was livid at the world. I stormed closer to Wrench and the volume of my voice grew. "If they threatened my family and actually go through with the attack, then, great. Karma is finally coming around for them." I grabbed Wrench's phone and undid the code. "I am going to my apartment, and going to sleep. I will see you tomorrow, understand?"

I didn't wait for an answer, I just climbed into my car and sped out of the garage, feeling bad for yelling at Wrench. I made it home in record time, parking down the street and using the deadbolt behind me. I lay down in bed and was out in seconds.


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm launching the EMP." Marcus said over the phone. I had come in this morning and Wrench hasn't spoken to me. "Okay, it's latched on and I'm about to detonate… 3….2…1-" Then Marcus was dropped from the line.

"It must have worked." I said, turning to Wrench. He nodded and waited by the phone. I walked back to the couch and sat down, still somewhat angry from the night before. I pulled out my phone and was working on another !Nvite exploit when I got an email. The subject line read : "10 minute warning". I opened it and shrieked, dropping my phone. I picked it back up quickly and knew my world was going to be shattered. I ran over to my netbook and began typing. If Haum's CEO was releasing this, I should be able to erase their data.

"What's wrong?" Wrench asked, coming over and reading over my shoulder. "Why are you trying to get into Haum's server farm? We just knocked out the CEO's house, they will probably-"

"Take the servers offline." I said as the error appeared on screen. "That means he has it on a hard drive." I cursed. "There is no way I'll find him in ten minutes." I closed the netbook and placed my head on the table.

"What's going on?" He asked, grabbing for my phone. I smacked his hand and put the phone in my pocket.

"I agreed to the hack," I said. "Hell, I encouraged it." I shook my head. "I knew the risks." I walked over to the couch and laidlay down. "I guess it's alright. I mean-"

"Any time you want to stop playing the pronoun game, just let me know." Wrench said, looking confused.

Just then my phone went off, once, twice, three times, it wasn't stopping. I picked it up and pulled the battery out, throwing it across the room. Wrench's mask displayed question marks, then went back to the normal eyes as he pulled out his phone. He clicked a few items, then, exclamation points. He looked up at me and even through the mask I could feel the pity. I averted my eyes and staring to the ground.

"This is the super-touchy subject, isn't it?" He asked, sad eyes flashing. I nodded solemnly. He put his phone back in his pocket, sitting on the couch next to me as I felt the embarrassment overflow. Tears began to well in my eyes as I told my side of the story.

"I don't even remember when it started," I began. "It had been going on for as long as I could remember," I shook my head, laughing despite the circumstances. "The worst parts began when I was eight." I shook my head. "He always told me that it was _normal_ and if I told anyone they would laugh in my face. " I shook my head once again. "I was too naïve, too trusting. He would only do it after drinking though, so as soon as I saw the bottle I knew my father was going to sneak into my room." I felt a tear gall down my cheek. "My uncle joined sometimes, he was the family attorney so he knew how to get away with it. When I turned 18, I left, and never looked back." I began sobbing. "He showed up at my house a few months back, broke in and tried… I stabbed him. That's when I moved. My lease is under a different name so they have no idea where I live. But now, everyone knows." I leaned into my friend's chest and cried.

*Sometime Later*

The garage door opened and the main members of Dedsec strolled in. Wrench was working on… smashing a vacuum when they came in. "Wrench, man," Marcus said. "Did you see the news?"

Wrench's eyes turned angry and he smashed the vacuum down even harder. "Yes, yes I did."

Sitara looked around. "Where is she?"

"She went home." He answered, grabbing a blow torch. "She went home after-" He lit it and began melting the vacuum. "Crying for an hour!" He stopped after a moment, then turned the torch off. He looked to the group and his eyes were still in the mad configuration. "Do you know she thinks itsit's her fault?"

Marcus shook his head as Sitara spoke. "Well, we have a very good excuse to hack Blume once again."

"I doubt the he will be CEO for much longer." Josh said from the back.

Wrench's eyes turned into the happy upward arrows. "Let's give them hell."

I heard a knock on the door, but stayed in bed. I heard a second knock, harder this time. "Go away!" I yelled, pulling the covers over my face. I didn't hear anything for a long time, then suddenly I heard a tap at my window. I screamed and rushed over, only to see Wrench's mask in the window. I sighed and opened the window, pulling him inside before smacking his arm. "You gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry." He said, closing the window. "I just wanted to check on you."

"I'm on the fifth floor," I said, shaking my head. "How did you get up here?"

"Fire escape, duh." He winked then turned serious. "Dedsec is behind you, and we are planning a hack on your father.

"So they saw?" I asked, my cheeks turning red.

He nodded. "They are outraged. Same goes for everyone online. Your family doesn't have one sympathizer."

I turned back and laid down in bed. I wasn't tired, but didn't want his pity. I didn't want anyone's outrage. I pulled the blankets over my head and curled up into a ball. I heard a thump and peeked over the edge, seeing Wrench sitting on the floor. "What are you doing?" I asked, confused.

"Sitting?" He said, looking up at me.

"You want to stay?" I asked, coming out a little more.

He nodded. "You really shouldn't be alone right now."

I was quiet for a moment, and he pulled out his phone, so I watched him. He pulled out some earbuds and was about to plug them in when I spoke up. "Why don't you come up here?"

He looked back up and his eyes were surprised. "Seriously?"

I turned a bright shade of red, but stuck to my guns. I did need a friend… "Yeah, I mean- if you want. Or I do own a couch-"

His mask went back to it's default eyes as he stood and walked over to the other side of the bed. He climbed up as I reached over and grabbed the remote, switching on a small flatscreen and opening up my pirated streaming services. I ignored his moving torso and selected a documentary about how they made _Star Wars._ I leaned back into the bed and noticed Wrench leaning against the headboard, he had taken off his spiked vest, but that was it.

We sat in silence for a while, then Wrench spoke. "You know, you shouldn't be embarrassed." I stayed silent. "You didn't ask for it to be done, you didn't want it."

"But I did," I whispered. "I liked the attention as I grew older. We were always wealthy, everyone was busy, and some nights, I enjoyed having their attention. It was the only time someone paid attention to me."

"You shouldn't of had to settle for that kind of attention." The robotic voice said.

I sunk deeper into the bed, deciding to close my eyes. I felt him slid down as well, then heard something else be set on the nightstand. I turned curious and was met with a face, his normal face. I was surprised, but didn't hit him this time. "Why did you-"

"You have no reason to be embarrassed," He said, for once in a normal, non-robotic voice.

I frowned as I noticed a purple blotch on his face. "Birthmark?" I asked, running a finger along the side of his face. It didn't feel like a scar, and it didn't look like a bruise.

He nodded. "I've been given a lot of shit for it over the years. So I made the mask a while back."

I scooted closer to him, yawning, starting to relax. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "Don't be,"

I closed my eyes and put my arm under the cool pillow, and fell asleep quickly.


	6. Chapter 6

Opening my eyes, I heard the rain hitting the roof and felt an arm draped over me. I turned my head and heard Wrench snoring lightly. I squirmed out of bed, somewhat embarrassed from what happened last night. I went to the bathroom, then walked back out and stretched. He had since woken up and was looking me over. He raised his brows and turned red.

I was suddenly aware of how little I was wearing. I had a pair of short shorts on paired with a cami. I briskly walked over to the closet and pulled out some clean clothes. I rushed back out and into the bathroom, getting dressed, then coming back out. Wrench had put his mask and vest back on and was standing by the window. "Sorry," I said. "I'm not used to having people over."

"It's fine." He said. "Let's get going though, everyone is waiting at the Hackersapce."

"They do use just about every Haum appliance." Sitara said, "I've been working on an exploit for that, but they've probably stepped up security."

Wrench and I walked down the stairs and everyone looked up, but continued talking.

"Security has been stepped up as well." Josh said. "There is no way we could get anyone inside."

"I could get in." I said, joining the circle. "But why are we wanting to mess with them? They've already been exposed.'

"But they can't be prosecuted." Marcus pointed out. "It's been too long since the video was taken, and even then it's just hearsay. We need a full on confession about the more recent crimes."

I nodded. "I can do that, if we need it. I can also put a micro camera inside of a pair of glasses, I just need a day or so."

Sitara nodded. "I just wanted to day-"

I held my hand up. "No, it's fine. Just please, don't bring it up. I'm going to head to the garage and get started on those glasses." I left it on that note.

*At the Hackerspace*

Marcus pulled Wrench aside. "Dude, how did last night go?"

Wrench shrugged. "Fine."

Marcus smiled. "Just _fine?"_

"You were right." Wrench admitted. "She didn't need to be alone. She enjoyed the company. She has a pretty sweet setup. She has a torrent streaming client directly on her TV and-"

"Wrench," Marcus cut him off. "Did you-"

"No." Wrench said. "After hearing that? No, damn, no… but she did sleep in almost nothing…" He trailed off and his eyes turned into hearts.

Marcus laughed. "Good luck with that."

I drilled the hole into the fake glasses and had just put the glue in when the door opened. Marcus swaggered over and leaned on the table as I placed the camera into the glasses. "Hey," I said, pressing the camera into place.

"How ya holding up?" He asked, looking me over.

I shrugged. "Fine. The glasses are drying, then I'll be ready."

Marcus reached over and grabbed the glasses out of my hands. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Why not?" I asked. "I get to confront them. Then maybe I can put this all behind me for good."

Marcus nodded and handed me the glasses. "You know he _likes_ you, right?" I ignored the question and continued working. "You like him too."

"Marcus-" I began to scold, but he held a finger up.

"Just figure it out. Don't toy with each other, alright?"

I nodded, and finished placing the camera. "All done, now I just need to pair it with my phone…" I pulled it out and turned on Bluetooth. I then opened the camera app and made sure it worked.

"Where's the microphone?" Marcus asked, looking me over.

I pulled my phone out and shook it at him. "They won't take my phone, plus as long as there isn't a jammer, I'll be streaming it live to you guys."

Marcus nodded. "Sounds good. Is there anything else you need?"

I shook my head. "Nope, I just want to get this over with. I'll meet you at the bunker when we are done with this."

"See you there." He said, hugging me for a moment, then watching me as I climbed into my car and drove away.

I walked up to the front door and pressed the buzzer. The house was still oversized and sanitized to perfection, so I knew nothing had really changed. It took a moment, but a security officer opened the door. "Name?" He demanded, looming over me.

I flashed my I.D. and he nodded, letting me inside. He led me up the staircase and onto the third floor, where my father waited in his study. They closed the door behind me and I walked towards him. "They've exposed you." I said, seething.

"I'm not sure what you are talking about." He feigned innocence. "All these articles are hearsay, and the video is just me and my brother comforting you after a nightmare. Why don't you sit down, I haven't seen you in a long time."

I shook my head, still standing. "They know." I shook with anger. "I'm surprised you haven't been forced to step down yet."

"There is no evidence against me." He said, shaking his head. "I've done nothing wrong."

"You would get drunk, come into my room and touch me for your own sexual gratification after locking me in the basement all day." I growled, storming closer. "You forced me to touch you-"

"Then why is this only coming out now?" He asked, standing and coming closer to me. "Why didn't you mention it years ago? Where have you been all this time?"

"Why would I tell you?" I demanded, stepping back as he walked around the large desk and coming towards me. "You broke into my house one night and tried to do it again!"

"122 South Hansbrook drive." My father said, looking me dead in the eyes. "Apartment 59D, " He recited and I felt my blood run cold. He opened a file lying on his desk, then handed me the contents. I looked down to my hands and saw photographs of me going home, leaving, at the garage and at the café.

"Why are you keeping tabs on me?" I asked, dropping the photographs, causing them to scatter.

"If I wanted to hurt you," He said, making sure I was watching his every movement. "I would have by now."

"For years," I whispered, shaking my head. "For years I took the abuse, thinking it was the only kind of attention I could get," I shook my head. "But now I know you are just some sick freaks who prey on innocent children. Blume keeps getting worse and worse. You're a perfect match for it-" Just then the door burst open and a little girl came running in. "Who is this?" I asked as she ran past me and into my father's arms.

"I'm Sarah." She smiled at me. "I'm four."

"This is your sister," He said to me.

My blood went cold. "I have a sister?" I was taken aback, but caught myself. "Sweetheart, can I talk to you in another room."

"Not a chance." My father said. "She doesn't need to hear your accusations."

I swallowed my pride and ignored my conscience. "Has you dad touched you no-no place?" I asked. "Or locked you in a closet? Has he screamed in your face about how much of a wh-"

My father dropped Sarah and came at me, shoving me down. He climbed on top of me and wrapped his fingers around my throat. "Don't you dare speak to my daughter like that!" He shouted, squeezing.

I brought my knee up and hit his genitals. He didn't let go. I spit in his face and clawed him. Suddenly alarms blarred and he grabbed his ears. I headbutted him and he fell off. I was wheezing, but alive. I slid out from under him. "You beat me for no reason," I wheezed. "Ruined my sense of safety and security. Made me terrified of everyone and you won't even admit it." Sarah was crying in the back corner of the office. "At least be a man in defeat. Own up to your crimes."

He glared up at me. "I don't know what-"

I lost it. I kicked him in the face and smiled as blood came out from his nose. "I've got you- at the very least- on aggravated assult. With video evidence." I tapped my glasses. "I'll see myself out." I said, turning to leave when he grabbed my ankle. I shook him off without turning and left, just as the police arrived.

I made it to my car and watched as my father was put in handcuffs. I felt a twinge of guilt as I didn't get him to confess. I was about to pull away when I saw them pulling out his computers. Hopefully something was on there.


	7. Chapter 7

I went to the bunker and was welcomed by a large party. I knew this wasn't in honor of what had just happened, but I still felt awkward. I found a corner and waited until Marcus and Wrench caught sight of me. They came over, Marcus just about fell ontop of me. "Well, we got it."

"Got what?" I asked, confused.

"A video." Marcus whispered. "Sitara is almost done."

"Okay, so why did you want me to come here?" I asked, slightly annoyed.

"TO PARTY!" Wrench yelled, raising his beer. "We were going to plant evidence on your dads computer, but it was already there!" He howled. "He fucked himself over."

I smiled. "Good, but I don't like partying too much." I said, walking away, "So I will see-"

Marcus grabbed my hand and practically threw me at Wrench. I glared at him, but he shrugged. "You should hang out." He said. Then walked away.

"Did he just throw us under the bus?" Wrench asked me.

"I think so." I frowned. "I think I am just going to go back to the apartment." I said. "It's been a long day."

"I'll come with you." He said, his eyes turning into hearts.

"Uhhh, you sure?" I asked. He nodded . "Alright then."

He was out cold in seconds. We made it in the apartment, he went to the couch and passed out. He must have been at the party much longer than I had expected. I sighed, went into the bedroom and changed, then climbed into my own bed. Passing out within seconds.

I woke up with my bladder full and walked over to the bathroom. Just before I opened the door, I saw the living room TV on and went out to see what was going on. Wrench was sitting up and watching the news. "Hey," I said softly, causing him to jump.

"I didn't mean to wake you up." He said, sounding buzzed still. He looked down at my shorts and his eyes turned to hearts again.

I smiled and blushed slightly. "I'm going to the bathroom, but if you want, we can share the bed again."

He nodded and I went to the bathroom. I washed my hands and went back to the bedroom where Wrench was now lying. He had taken off his vest and mask again, something he only seemed to do here. I climbed into bed and looked at him. "So," I said, looking at him. "Should-"

He leaned in and kissed me deeply. He then pulled away just as quickly. I wrapped my hand around the back of his head and pulled him in closer, wanting more. He groaned and pulled me closer. After a moment of intense kissing, we both broke it off. "I'm sorry." Wrench said, shaking his head. "I don't know-"

"Shhh," I said, pulling him into a hug, gently kissing his neck. "Let's go back to sleep." I pulled him into the bed. I moved my mouth to his lips and whispered. "I wanted it too, it's fine." He then lightly kissed me, wrapping his arms around me. With some small kisses in there to help lull us off to sleep.

I rolled over, squealing as the bed disappeared beneath me. I smashed into the ground and gasped as my arm smacked into the nightstand. Rolling into a ball, I heard the bed move, then saw Wrench's head appear as he peeked over. "What happened?"

"Fell!" I groaned, rolling on the side and checking my arm.

He rubbed his eyes and groaned. "My head is killing me, do you have any asprin?"

I squinted up at him and shook my head. "No, but I'm going to need something to kill this pain too."

I stood and saw him lay back onto the bed. Ignoring the pain in my arm, I crawled ontop of him and looked him over. "Do you remember last night?" He frowned for a moment, then pulled me down and kissed me very lightly. I smiled an pulled away. "That was much better than a 'yes'."

He frowned again, deeper this time. "Wasn't I drunk?"

I climbed off of him and sat back, leaning on the headboard. "Probably, why, did you not-"

"No, not that." He said, sitting up. "It's just, did that bother you? With what happened…?" He trailed off, watching me.

I chuckled. "When I left, I didn't deal with how I felt in a good way. Trust me, I got used to drunken escapades quickly. It doens't bother me anymore."

The frown stayed on his face, but he nodded. "Fair enough."

I stood, keeping my eyes on him. "Let's get out of here, I need to do something."

"Me?" Wrench chuckled, holding up his hands in surrender. "Kidding!"


	8. Chapter 8

I stood over the table, putting together a new accessory for the jumper when the door opened behind me. Looking up, I saw Marcus stroll in, a large metal pipe in his hands. "I got your... whatever this is." He called out, setting it on the ground. "Oh, hey." He said when he saw me at the table. "Where's Wrench?"

I looked around. "Uhhh, I thought he was smashing another toaster."

Just then Wrench came strolling in from the office that he used as an extra bedroom. "Marcus, you brought me the cylinder!" He rushed over to it and set it on it's head.

"Yeah, man, it weighs a ton," Marcus complained. "What the hell is it?"

Wrench's mask turned into X's (X X) "It's what's inside. Toss me the blow torch." He called out and I grabbed it off the table, walking it over to him. "Thank you." He said, then turned it on, lit it and sliced it open. A bundle of cables and chips spilt onto the floor. "YES!" He yelled, dropping the blowtorch and falling to his knees. "FINALLY!"

I knitted my brows and looked to Marcus for an answer. He shrugged and we watched the spike-clad man practically roll around in the mess of hardware. "Hey," I spoke up. "What is all that?"

"It's the rest of the pieces I need to make Wrench the Third!" He cried. "Junior will be avenged!"

"What?" I asked, again looking to Marcus. "Who-"

Marcus chuckled, eyeing a spot on my neck. "Junior was a Haum robot. We had to use him in the Tidus hack."

"It was murder!" Wrench called out, seeming to calm down.

"Well good luck with that." Marcus said, patting my shoulder, then leaning in to whisper. "Wear your hair down, it covers your neck." He chuckled again, then left.

Wrench pulled the pile of cords over to the table and placed them down, excited. "Want to help me?" He asked, his expression questioning (? ?)

"Sure." I said, pulling my hair out, finally realizing what Marcus was hinting at.

We worked on the robot all day and all night, only stopping to use the bathroom. As the sun rose the next morning, the door opened. "He's the most hated man in the country right now!" Someone hollered. I winced at the noise and turned, seeing Marcus stroll in. "Sitara released the video last night, and the internet hasn't stopped talking about it."

"Good." I said, rubbing my eyes and squinting. "Wrench, close the garage door please! I can't see!" I turned and saw him passed out on the couch. I rolled my eyes and turned back to Marcus who was offering me his sunglasses. "Thanks." I said, putting them on.

"When was the last time you slept?" He asked.

"Night before last." I answered. "I was about to catch some sleep, but-" I turned to Wrench who was snoring away, then shrugged. "Then you came. I'll sleep soon." I walked over to the table. "Wrench the Third is almost done."

"Nice." He said. "But I have another reason for stopping by."

"Oh?" I asked, slightly concerned.

"I need your help." He said. "We are doing another check up on Tidus. I am posing as an interested investor, however they invited my wife as well."

"Oh." I said, deflated. "Why not Sitara?"

"She doesn't really, well fit in with that crowd anymore." He frowned. "She wasn't really interested in going."

"Oh," I said. "But my face is plastered everywhere now." I pointed out.

"We can spoof your cTos profile, but you probably should dye your hair and do your makeup differently." Marucs said.

I nodded. "When is the appointment?"

"Tonight." He said. "I'll pick you up."

I sighed. "Alright, I'll be ready."

He smiled, nodded, then left. I sighed, walked over to the couch and pushed the man's legs off the couch. He jumped up, startled, X's flashing, then, question marks and finally hearts. I sat down and rested my head on his shoulder. "Did you hear any of that?" I asked, closing my sore eyes.

"No?"

"I am posing as Marcus' wife tomorrow night." I told him. We're 'investing' in Tidus."

He nodded and I felt his arm drape around me. "Sitara can't do it?"

I shook my head. "Nope. I'm going to go and get my hair dyed, then come back and take a nap." I yawned, beginning to stand, eyes still closed.

He wrapped his arms around me tighter, pulling me back down. "Get some sleep before you go."

"No," I said, sitting up. "I'll go get it done, then sleep. That way it sets better."

"You sure?" He asked,

I nodded, opening my eyes. "I'll be back soon."

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

                                                                                 *Three hours later*

I staggered back into the garage, barely able to keep my eyes open. I collapsed onto the couch. "Hello?" I heard Wrench call. "You alright?" I heard his voice come in closer but I was too tired to move, let alone speak. I heard a chuckle, then silence as I finally got some sleep.

I awoke a few hours later, dazed and slightly less tired. Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes and felt my hair tickle my back. I stood and stretched, my back popping. Yawning, I made my way over to the office and knocked. The door opened immediately and I saw Wrench standing there, looking down at me. "Light red hair, looks good on you."

"Definitely different." I said. "What time is it? My phone is dead."

"Three in the afternoon." He said, cheerfully. "You still have a few hours of freedom."

I shrugged. "I still have to get my clothes, buy new makeup and get ready."

"Really?" He asked, looking me over. "You look fine."

"I need to look stunning, and different." I groaned. "And not tired."

His eyes turned sad. "Can I help?"

"No," I shook my head. "But you can meet me back at the apartment when I'm done?" I offered.

"Text me." He said, pulling me into a hug. "But don't overdo it." His expression changed. (\ /) "You aren't really Marcus's wife, remember that."

I laughed. "He already spotted something on my neck. He knows." Wrench moved my hair and his mask flashed, winking. He chuckled and I smacked his arm. "Shut up!" I smiled, then walked away, finally deciding to go and get ready.

***

I had found a white, low cut tank top, a pencil skit with a slit and a blazer. I added a golden belt and some white accessories. I added black pumps and put my hair up and into a loose bun, adding a nice barrette. Just as I finished my hair, I heard a knock at the door. Padding over, I unlocked the door and let spike-clad man in. "Wow." He said, looking me over, his eyes turning into hearts. "You look good."

"Thanks," I said, looking toward the ground.

His eyes winked at me, then he crossed his arms. "Are you okay?"

I frowned. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Just... there is a lot going on." I could hear the frown in his voice.

I blushed slightly. "I could be better, but it's manageable."

He nodded, not sure what to say. We stood in silence for a moment, then he jumped. "Oh, I grabbed you something."

"What?" I asked, confused.

His eyes flashed and he pulled a small, crumpled bag out of his front pocket. "Sitara helped." He said, passing it over. I took it and pulled out a small box. Eyeing him, I opened the box and was surprised when I saw a pair of earrings. I felt my eyebrows going up, genuinely surprised. They were beautiful golden roses. "They're for tonight... or well any night."

I chuckled. "You're buying me presents for a date without you?"

He was stunned into silence for a moment. "I- well... uh are we together or-"

I walked over to him, removed his mask and kissed his lips, then pulled away and looked in his eyes. I didn't dare allow my eyes to wander from his. "I'd hope so. And thank you, it will be nice to have a piece of you for tonight... and Sitara." I began to replace the mask, but he stopped me with another kiss. I was surprised, but kissed back. He wrapped his arms around my waist and dipped me slightly. After a moment he released me and I smiled up at him. "Are you sure you need this mask?" I questioned, burying my face in his neck.

"Around you, no. Everyone else..." He trailed off.

I pulled away, frowning. "They wouldn't care." I said.

"They've seen the mark." He sighed, taking the mask back, "I just... I like the mask." He said, replacing it back on his face.

"I still have some issues with it." I laughed, raising my scarred hand.

His eyes turned sad. "I'm still sorry about that. Although it was pretty badass."

I sighed. "If only I regenerated like Logan or Wade." I shook my head, remembering the painful weeks of it healing.

"But you've learned to love my odd quirks." He said, cocking his head to the side.

I frowned in mock confusion. "Jury's still out on that one." He playfully pushed me and I laughed. "I need to finish getting ready,"

He pulled on my waist, "You sure?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it's time to get this over with."

His eyes turned happy. "Well once Marcus gets here, he'll give you an earpiece and we'll be in contact the entire time."

I frowned. "Is that the best idea?"

He nodded. "There is no way we can hide a camera, but we can make a microphone and speaker small enough to hide in the ear canal."

I nodded and was about to respond when there was a knock on the door. I walked over and opened it. Marcus was standing there, in a finely made suit. I gestured for him to come in and he walked briskly past me, eying the spike-clad man, "You two living together already, man, you're moving quick." He chuckled.

I frowned, then playfully pushed him. "We've practically been living together since I was forced into joining."

"But you love us now." Marucs said, pushing back.

"I have to admit it," I said, putting my hands up. "I have grown fond of you guys."

Marcus smiled. "Good, now, are you ready to go?"

I nodded. "Let's get this over with."

***

We walked into the restaurant, our arms interlinked, stopping at the podium. "Williams, party of four." Marcus said, smiling brightly. The host nodded and led us to an empty table. Marcus pulled a seat out for me, and I sat in in, thanking him as he pushed my chair in. He sat across from me, pulling his chair in. We sat in silence for a moment, then I saw the host was leading another couple over, presumably Warnell Tidus and his wife, Marcella Tidus.

"Good evening." Warnell smiled warmly, pulling out a seat for his wife and allowing her to sit, then seating himself across from her. "Mr. and Mrs. Williams, I presume?"

"Yes." Marcus said, reaching over and shaking his hand. "My name is Reginald, and this is my lovely wife, Athena."

"Very nice to meet you, Athena." Warnell said, taking my hand and kissing it.

"Very nice to meet you and your wife as well." I said, trying to remind him that his wife was right there, less than 10 feet away.

He smiled and looked between Marcus and I, seemingly sizing up our relationship. "So, what has you so interested in investing in our company?"

"Well," I began, leaning forward on my elbows. "I saw the video that the hacker group- uh Dedsec?- released about the weaponized robots-"

"We deny-" Warnell began, but I continued speaking.

"And we believe that the public needs to be controlled." I smiled. "Most of them are so small minded that we could squeeze millions out of the west coast alone, all while making sure Tidus remains one of the most popular security companies in the world. We want to get the programs back on track."

The Tidus' seemed taken aback. "Really?" Warnell asked. "You'd be willing to do that?"

Marcus nodded as he waved the waitress away. He leaned in so he didn't have to speak so loudly. "We are ready to write the check for $50 million dollars, however, we need to see the lab."

Warnell went pale, then regained his composure. "Let's eat first."

After an amazing meal, they invite us back to Tidus headquarters, an invitation we instantly accepted. We bid a brief adieu to one another, then climbed into our separate cars. As soon as I closed my car door, I sighed. "That man is a creep."

Marcus nodded, starting the vehicle. "His wife didn't speak at all the entire time." We pulled out of the parking lot. "And he seemed very fixated on you."

"I noticed." I grumbled, pulling my blazer closed. "Fucking creep."

"We have it all recorded here," Sitara's voice came over my earpiece. "Do you think you'd be able to sneak a camera in there?"

"No." I sighed. "But I can find some way to describe everything out loud and have them agree."

Sitara tsked and was silent for a moment. "I don't know if that will be convincing enough."

"I can hack the security cameras." Marcus said. "Have them broadcast back to us."

"That might just work." I said.

"Yeah." Sitara agreed. "Just be careful."

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

 

                                         *Sorry for any typos, I wrote this in about an hour and wanted to get another chapter up before bed. Thank you for your patience about my bad uploading schedule.* 

 

We parked the car and walked up to the entrance of Tidus and saw the CEO waiting, his wife no where in sight. "Nice to see you again!" Warnell boomed, pulling me into a tight hug. I pulled away as soon as possible, not liking the contact.

"Where is Marcella?" I asked, stepping slightly behind Marcus, not feeling too comfortable.

"She wasn't feeling well." Warnell explained, leading us inside. "She decided to be dropped off at home, I hope you understand."

"Of course." Marcus said, staying in between myself and Warnell. "So where is the lab?"

Warnell chuckled. "It is going to take a little bit of a walk to get there. Although you two look young and healthy enough to make it." He then looked my body over, causing me to shiver slightly. "Although your shoes may cause some pain."

I laughed warm heartly. "I'm sure I'll be fine."

He looked as though he wanted to say something, but refrained from it. He wordlessly led the way down a long hallway. Just then I heard Wrench's voice come into my ear. "This guy is a creep. He's at least 65."

"Try 67." Sitara's voice joined his.

I heard Wrench groan with disgust. "Why do you attract creeps? Wait, what does that say about me..."

"Don't think too much about that," Sitara chuckled.

After that they went silent, allowing us to focus on the task at hand. We followed Me. Tidus down farther and father until we finally reached a elevator. We climbed inside and he swiped a card, causing it to descend instantly. I fell against Marcus who steadied me easily. "Sorry," I whispered.

He smiled reassuringly at me as Wrench's voice came through the earpiece, "What happened?" Neither of us could answer, which he realized moments later. "Nevermind." He grumbled.

We finally arrived at the ground floor, where I acted somewhat surprised. They had seemed to repair most of the damage done by a certain hacker, however some remnants remained as a painful reminder. "Here we are." Warnell said, leading us into a very open area. "This is where the SX-23 was kept, until it was destroyed. We've started construction on another, however it isn't operational yet."

"Now," Marcus said, causing the man to turn around. "What security is in place to make sure it doesn't get destroyed again?"

Warnell laughed darkly. "We have ramped up security ten fold."

Marcus pulled a face. "But I'd like to see it, to make sure our money isn't wasted. Can you show me your security headquarters?"

Warnell frowned, but nodded after a moment on internal deliberation. "Alright. Follow me, please." He led us down the large room and into a small hallway, then made a sharp left into a hidden room. We followed eagerly. The room was empty, obviously mostly autonomous, which meant Marcus would need more time cracking it.

I looked around as Marcus spoke wuth hun about the security measures. I saw a large cord and saw an opportunity. I walked over, pretending to look at a monitor when I tripped on it and crashed to the floor. I felt my ankle twist and fell to the ground, blood on my face, I cursed and felt someone help me to my feet. Turning, I saw Warnell holding my shoulder. "Are you alright?" He asked, looking me over.

"My ankle hurts." I said, honestly, sitting in a chair, having Warnell look at it.

"You stay here, I'm going to grab the first aid kit." He said, then rushed out.

"Okay." I said, playing the damsel in distress. As soon as he left the room I looked up at Marcus, "Make it snappy."

Marcus began typing at the speed of light, not even picking on me for throwing myself to the floor. For a solid minute, all I heard was keystrokes, then I faintly heard heavy footsteps. "He's coming!" I stage-whispered. Marcus stood up and turned the monitor off, just as Warnell came back in.

"Here, I can dress it for you." He said, kneeling by me again.

"Do you mind if I look to the security systems myself?" Marcus asked. "I took a coding class a while back and am curious to see if I could make any sense of this."

Just then I raised my ankle, giving Warnell a peek up my skirt. Internally I vomited, however it had it's desired effect. "Sure." He said, very distracted. "Sure, do whatever you want."

Marcus got back to work, much slower this time. The old man began wrapping my ankle, and anytime he seemed to be going to fast, I'd move and cause him to apologize and go slower. Marcus finished typing after another minute or so, then came over to us. "You have a cut on your forehead." He pointed out. My hand flew to my face, feeling some dried blood.

"Thank you," I said to Marcus, then looked down at Warnell. "Thank you, too. That should suffice until we get home. He began to protest, but I stood. "Thank you for showing us around you large facility, but I think we should be going."

He stood and eyed us both. "Alright, not to be too blunt, but what about the check?"

"Of course!" Marcus laughed. "Can I drop it off tomorrow morning?"

Warnell frowned. "Is there any way you could write it now?"

Marcus frowned as well. "I don't have my checkbook on me."

Warnell wrapped an arm around my waist. "I'm sure Athena wouldn't mind waiting with me until you found your checkbook."

I had reached my limit. I reached up and soved my elbow into his nose, causing blood to spew from it. "Don't touch me ever again." I said. "And because of that, I don't think we will be investing in your company." I walked out, my head held high and I heard Marcus running after me. We stepped into the elevator, our time a Tidus was finally over.

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

I limped to the car and threw myself into the passenger seat. I took my shoes off and threw them into the backseat, beyond tired of them. Marcus climbed into the car just as I slammed my door. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again, thinking twice about speaking. We peeled out of the parking lot, not too concerned about security stopping us. We made it back to the Hackerspace in record time. AS soon as we were outfront, I stepped out and almost fell on my face, forgetting about my ankle.

"Damn it." I said, slamming the door again.

"Do you need help?" Marcus asked, coming over to me.

I groaned, but nodded. "Thanks." I put my arm over his shoulder as we stumbed into the café, but before we could type the code in, the door slid open.

Wrench stood there his expression questioning (? ?). "What happened?" He slid an arm around my shoulder and the guys helped me down the stairs as I told them what happened, omitting the part where I let the creep look up my skirt.

"So you were able to intall the backdoor?" Sitara asked Marcus.

"Yep." He answered. "Thanks to her throwing herself to the floor."

I chuckled. "You're welcome."

"You should probably ice that ankle." Wrench said, looking down at my swollen ankle. "It looks sprained, at the very least."

"I'll survive," I sighed. "I have had spikes shoved into my hand before, this is nothing."

Wrench's eyes changed into exclamation points, then into sad eyes. "Please stop bringing it up, I feel bad about that."

I frowned, then nodded, turning my attention to my swollen ankle. "I should be fine, can someone pass me a laptop?"

"I just checked the backdoor," Josh said, coming out from his corner of the world. "It is operational and I have already begun downloading the archives. We should be done within the hour."

"Good," I said, standing, keeping most of my weight on the non-injured foot. "I need to go home and shower. I'll be back tonight."

"Let me drive you." Wrench said. "I think you need to rest your ankle as much as possible." Before I could even open my mouth to protest, he took my arm and placed it over his shoulder.

"Really?" I asked as he drug me up the stairs.

His expression changed (^ ^). "Onward!"

***

I began drawing the bath after deciding that it would be easier to sit in the tub vs standing. I began to undress, but my phone began ringing. Shutting the water off, I answered it. "Hello?" I asked, the number was unknown.

"Sweetie?" I heard my mother's voice on the other end. "Please don't hang up!" I stayed silent, waiting for her to continue. "I am calling to let you know..." She sighs. "Your uncle was also taken into custody."

"Okay, thanks, bye-"

"I also want you to come to dinner." She spat out, causing me to pull my phone back to my ear mere milliseconds before I hung up.

"Excuse me?" I asked, astonished by how bold she was acting.

"I want you to come and meet your sister." She explained. "I also wanted to get to know you better." I allowed her to ramble on. "Maybe you could bring a friend, or do you have a boyfriend? I haven't spoken to you in so long-"

"Mother!" I scolded, causing a knock on the bathroom door. "You haven't earned the right to know any of that." I stood and unlocked the bathroom door, allowing Wrench to come in.

"Will you at least consider my dinner proposal?" She asked, sounding desperate. "Its been so hard since your father was taken-"

She crossed a line there. I hung up instantly and threw the phone to the floor, livid that she had the nerve to ask anything of me. "Was that your mom?" Wrench asked, sitting on the tub next to me.

"Sadly, yes." I sighed, putting my face in my hands. "She wants me to start coming around, meet my sister under better circumstances."

He nodded. "And you don't want to?"

"Why the hell would I?" I asked, throwing my arms up and into the air. "She has never been a good mother to me." I reached back and turned the faucet back on, filling the tub. "I just want to take a bath and go to sleep. Start again tomorrow, hopefully it's a better day."

Wrench shook his head. "I think you should speak with her... your sister." He said, taking the mask off. He placed it on the counter and looked at me, seeming smaller somehow. "If she went through the same-"

"It doesn't matter." I snapped. "She will never see her father again." He looked somewhat sad, but nodded. "She also wanted to meet my friends." I laughed. "If only she knew the pack I ran with."

"What's so bad about us?" He asked, scooting closer to me, "We are a fun group of people."

"You can be." I smirked. I leaned in and planted a kiss on his lips. He kissed back gently as I reached my hand backwards and grabbed a soap bottle. I popped the top and poured some into the tub. I replaced the bottle and deepened the kiss. I waited a moment, then dipped my hand into the water. I lifted it slowly and then pulled away from Wrench. He looked confused, but in an instant I placed my hand in front of my mouth and blew. Bubbles flew into his face and he swatted them away, still confused. I laughed and took another handful and did it again. This time he laughed quietly as well, then grabbed some bubbles of his own and smashed his hand into my hair. "Hey!" I yelled, smiling widely. He came at me and wrapped his arms around my waist and his lips crashing into mine.

Somewhere in there we fell to the floor, our lips still intertwined. I leaned into him as the passionate kiss continued. After a long while of kissing, I felt something wet on my thighs. I broke off the kiss and breathed. "Wrench,"

"I know." He said, lowering his lips to mine again, but I pushed him away.

"The tub is over flowing." I snorted, pushing him away. He jumped up and turned off the tub quickly. He looked down at me, practically soaked on the floor and began laughing quietly. I laughed along with him, sitting up. "Will you help me mop this up so I don't get evicted?"

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

*A/N; I am so sorry that I took so long to get an update out, I could pile on excuse after excuse, but I feel bad, so I am putting up two chapters tonight.  I will try to update more often, thank you so much for reading and keeping one positive thing going for me right now. You guys rock!!!

 

We had gotten the bathroom mopped up quickly, and (much his disappointment) gotten dressed in dry clothing before leaving the apartment. We climbed into my car and I climbed into the driver's seat. I put my foot on the brake and grimaced as the pain shot up my leg. My ankle was hurting more than yesterday, and I turned to the spike clad man in the passenger seat. "Do you know how to drive?" I asked, smiling kindly.

"Of course I do." He snapped playfully. We got out of the car and switched seats. I sank into the passenger seat and pulled out my phone. Opening !Nvite, I saw a slew of messages from my mother, trying to set up a time to meet for the dinner I never agreed to. I looked up at the road and had a heart attack, we were careening too quickly towards a stop sign, and just before I shouted a warning, he slammed on the brakes and we stopped perfectly on the white line. He looked over at me, his expression winking (- |). He chuckled at my pale face. "Don't trust my driving?"

He slowly pulled away from the stop sign. "How well can you see out of that mask?" I asked nervously.

"Well enough," He chuckled.

"That's not a good enough answer." I said, tightening my seatbelt.

He laughed. "I've been driving since I was old enough to reach the pedals."

"Excuse me?" I shouted, grabbing the handle above the door as we careened around a corner.

"You really think I'll crash with you in the car?" He asked.

I shook my head. "They are also called car 'accidents'." I tensed as the tire screeched. "We don't need to get pulled over."

"You have a very nice car," He chuckled. "We could outrun them."

"I'd rather not try." I sighed, wishing I had more secure seat belts.

"Don't worry, we are almost... here!" He drifted around a corner and pulled up in front of the garage. My fingers had dug into the seat, popping one seam. He looked over to me, his expression happy (~ ~). He laughed when he saw my pale face. "Do you need a blood transfusion, miss?"

"It is a possibility." I said, struggling to release my death grip. Just as I unclasped the seat belt, my phone went off once again. My mother was still trying to confirm a time with me. Rolling my eyes, I locked the phone and staggered out of the car. Marcus came out of the building and shook his head at us.

"Are you alright?" Marcus asked me. "You look a bit green."

"Fine," I snapped, heading into the garage. My stomach was in knots and my phone continued buzzing. Finally I lost my cool and pulled out my phone. Opening the messaging app, I requested a video chat with my mother. She answered immediately.

"Oh, hello-"

"No." I snapped, glaring at her through the phone. "Hush, my time to talk. I am a busy person, and I don't have time to answer the phone."

"I'm sorry," She said just as the boys walked in behind me. "Who is that?" She asked, trying to look over my shoulder despite not being there in person. Quickly I turned off the camera and placed the phone on my left ear. "You're spending your time with boys?" She asked, seeming interested and slightly disappointed.

"Does it matter?" I demanded. "I am a grown woman, and I need to get going-"

"Wait! Is next Friday a good day? 7 o'clock?" She asked.

I sighed. "Maybe. I'll confirm later." I then hung up despite her protests.

"Mother dearest?" Wrench asked, his eyes turning in =to heart as he clasped his hands together in mock love.

I shoved him and hobbled over to the couch, getting off my swollen ankle. "She wants to meet next Friday."

"Ohhhhhh," He said, then turned to Marcus. "Sound like a party?"

"No!" I protested. "I don't even want to go. Why should she get to mess with me even more. I did my time."

Marcus sighed. "What about the kid?" He asked, sitting next to me.

"Kid?" I asked, confused and flustered.

He chuckled. "Your kid sister. Does she even know you?"

I laughed out loud. "I didn't even know she existed."

"Well," Wrench said, sitting on the other side of me. "Why don't you invite her over instead of going to your mother's?"

I frowned, ready to protest, then thought for a moment. "That actually doesn't seem like a bad idea." I murmured. "Maybe I will do that."

"See," Wrench's expression changed. (! !) "I'm not a dumb as I look."

Marcus began to protest and Wrench reached across, smacking him. The boys got up and began wrestling as I sat back and began arrangements for my sister to come and see me soon.

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

My mother and I agreed that my sister, Sarah, could come over the next night. I would pick her up, then drop her back off by 8pm. She was only four, so that wasn't un reasonable. I got the apartment ready for a young kid and began prepping Wrench to be around a child. It was his idea, so I figured he should be there.

I sat down on my bed and Wrench followed suit, we had just finished cleaning so we were both ready for a break. "Alright," I said, crossing my legs and pulling on my feet. "So we are going to pick Sarah up at 5:30, and it's-" I looked at my phone. "4:15. I think we can get this done. How much experience do you have with children?"

His mask changed. (? ?) "Why does that matter?"

"Dealing with kids is much different that dealing with adults." I explained. "They are brutally honest, oblivious and downright annoying at times. They ask a million and one questions, always want hugs and love to eat."

"So they are talking Gremlins?" He asked. ( ~ ~). "I think I can handle that."

"Uhh," I trailed off. "I still think we should talk it over more-" He cut me off by pulling his mask up and tossing it on the bed. I furrowed my brows, not sure what he was planning, but then his lips met mine as he pinned me underneath him. "Hey," I protested. "This isn't fair!"

"So?" He asked, moving to my neck.

"Wrench-"

He silenced me with another kiss and I gave in to the secduction.

*5:30pm*

We pulled up to my mother's house right on time. As soon as we came to a stop, my mother ran out of the house. I opened my door and walked over to the sidewalk where she pulled me into a hug. I allowed the hug, but pulled away when I heard a little voice. "Sister?" She called. I shoved my mother aside and saw a little girl running to me. She had her booster seat in hand and her hair was done in perfect pigtails.

I scooped her up and took the seat from her. "I assume you are Sarah?" 'I said, poking her stomach. She laughed and grabbed her stomach.

"Yes!" She screamed. "I am Sarah and I am four." She held up five fingers.

"Close enough." I chuckled. "See you later." I said to my mother, then buckled the young girl in. Wrench was in the passenger seat, but hadn't said a word yet. I closed the door and went to get in the car, but my mother grabbed my arm. "I want to see you one day."

"You should have opened your eyes." I snapped, yanking my arm away. "Be happy I even want to see my sister."

She shook her head and walked back into the house, obviously dejected. I walked over to the driver's side and got in. "I wear it because I want to." Wrench said, slightly annoyed.

"But why does it light up?" She asked in a singsong voice. "And where is your face?"

"Under the mask." He answered, slightly upset. "And it lights up because it's cool."

"Cool?" She continued. "I think normal faces are cool." Wrench stayed quiet at that one. "Are you sister's friend?" She asked.

"Yes." He answered shortly.

"Oh, Daddy was my only friend." She sighed. "Then he went away. Mommy says he will come back someday."

"Yeah?" I asked before Wrench could shut her down. "When is Daddy coming back?"

"Don't know." She said. "Soon." I shook my head and focused on driving. "Sister, is your house big?" She said after a few minutes of silence.

"Not really." I answered. "It's only me and Wrench, so it's an okay size."

"His name is Wrench?" She giggled. "Wreeeench." She sounded it out. She kept saying his name until I smacked him.

"Yea?" He asked, turning around to see her.

"Why does your mask light up?" She asked.

"Seriously?" He whispered. She screeched out a laugh and I knew his mask had changed expressions. He turned back around. "Kids are weird."

 

 


	14. Chapter 14

*** Update; I have opened a Patreon page and would really appreciate if you would check it out!! Thank you guys!! https://www.patreon.com/EadlyenGreenwood 

 We sat in the living room with "My Little Pony" on the TV. I sighed as I leaned into Wrench's arms and listened to Sarah singing along with the theme song. "Are all kids like this?" Wrench asked, gesturing to the child who had begun dancing along to the music.

"Pretty much." I nodded, looking up at him. "Hey, you usually have that off when you're here."

"But we have a guest." He said, his eyes turning into question marks. "Why would I take it off now?" I frowned slightly, but nodded and accepted his answer. I had been hoping that he had been gaining some self confidence, but I could understand that if he wasn't ready for that yet. I pushed myself up and kissed his neck to show that I understood. He eyes looked turning into crying eyes, and he squeezed me. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's alright." I whispered.

"Sister?" Sarah asked, turning around to see me. "Can I sit with you?'

"Uh, sure." I said, sitting up slightly, yet I still leaned on Wrench. She stood and ran over to me, then jumped on me. Not next to me, not barely on me, right onto me. I gasped at the sudden weight and my head jerked back, slamming into Wrench's mask. "Y-ow!" I cried, my hand flying to my now-throbbing head. "Are you alright?" I asked Wrench.

"I'm fine," He said, nodding. "How's your head?"

"I'll live." I sighed, rubbing the tender flesh. I looked down and smiled as I saw Sarah cuddling up to me.

"Hey, sister?" She asked, looking up at me. "Why don't you live with mommy?"

"I'm an adult, silly." I poked her nose, causing her to laugh. "I live by myself now." D

She frowned. "Why don't you visit?"

"I-" I started, but Wrench cut me off.

"She is a very busy person." Wrench said. "She is always helping people."

"She is?!" Sarah squealed. "Is she a superhero?"

Wrench laughed. "She kind of is."

Her face lit up. "Like Batman?"

He laughed again. "Yes, just like Batman."

My sister frowned, the turned around completely. "So, who are you? The bad guy?" She tilted her head to the side.

"Why would I be the bad guy?" He asked, his eyes flashing into question marks.

"Your mask, silly." She said, laughing. "All bad guys have scary masks." She reached her little hand up and poked a spike. "And it hurt sister."

Wrench stayed silent for a moment. "I didn't want to hurt her. It was an accident. And my mask might be scary, but it's also cool. I spent a lot of time making it."

"You made it?!" She squealed, excited again.

"I did." He said proudly.

I laughed. "It was very hard to make."

She looked up at him with newfound amazement. "That. Is. Awesome."

I smiled as she settled back down into the TV show. We watched in silence for a bit, then Wrench got confused. "Why does the pink one see the future?"

"It's her Pinkie sense!" Sarah cried as if it was obvious.

"But where did it come from?" He asked, confused. "Was she born with it? And ifshe was, why didn't we see it before now?"

She facepalmed. "It's her superpower! She uses it when she wants."

"But-"

I raise a hand. "Hush."

"But-"

"Just leave it be." I pleaded. "The episode is almost over."

He sighed, but complied. I felt his hand leave my side. I sighed and sat forward slightly. Just as the next episode started, I felt him pull me back into him. I frowned, but leaned back into him. I allowed my head to relax on his shoulder and I felt Sarah's breathing even out, then slow. Closing my eyes, I felt myself relax, then, just as I was about to ease off into sleep, I felt lips meet my cheek. Surprised and confused, I opened my eyes slightly and saw Wrench's face. Not his mask, his face. I smiled and my lips found his.

Our kiss burned slowly, easily. I pulled him closed and the kiss deepened, just as Sarash stirred. We broke the kiss as I lulled her back to sleep. I then turned back to him, almost feverish as I kissed him once more. My hand tangled in his hair as his entire body tenses. "What time is it?" I asked, breaking the kiss. He frowned, but checked his phone.

"7:45." He answered, then kissed me once again.

"It's time to bring her home." I sighed into the kiss.

"I agree," He smiled against me. "I'm ready for some alone time."

I laughed and pushed him playfully. I then leaned forward and scooped her Sarah up in my arms. I started to stand, but yawned, leaning back into the couch. It's been a long day. I shook my head at the end of the yawn, then opened my eyes.

"Let me take her." Wrench said, picking her from my arms. I allowed him to, and smiled at the man holding the small child. It was a peaceful sight, it just seemed right. Wrench looked at me funnily. '"Aren't you coming?"

"Yes," I smiled up at him. I stood, then leaned over and kissed his bare cheek. "Come on,"

The drive was a short one. We made it there before the eight o'clock curfew and dropped her off to her mother without a word. Wrench still had his mask off, and my mother gave him an odd look, then went back inside. I climbed back into the car, and pulled away, as soon as I pulled away, Wrench leaned over and ran his hand up my thigh.

"You ready to get home?" He asked, moving his thumb.

I nodded, trying to focus on the road. He leaned over and kissed my neck. "Wrench!" I scolded. "I need to get home without crashing. Give me like five minutes."

"Alright." He grumbled, leaving his hand on my thigh.

I smirked. "It'll be worth the wait." I looked over and he looked overjoyed. I shook my head and pressed the gas pedal down even farther. I was going to enjoy this too.

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

I groaned as I rolled over and my hand fell off the bed. Sighing, I tried to lift it back up, but was too tired to do anything. I huffed, but ignored my hand. I heard a chuckle, and rolled my eyes. "Tired?" Wrench asked.

"Ughhhh." I responded. 

He chuckled again and I felt his hand on my bare back and I shivered. "Did I tire you out last night?"

"Sarah was a handful too!" I defended, turning over. "But it was a fun night."

I heard the smirk in his voice when he asked. "Would you like to do it again?" I felt his body pressed against my own.

"Not right now." I chuckled, getting out of bed and walking to the bathroom, "WE should probably see if DedSec is doing anything today. I am-" All of a sudden my laptop began beeping. I threw on a t-shirt and rushed over to the open laptop in the living room. "Shit shit shit!' I cursed, and began typing as fast as possible. "Someone is trying to break into DedSec's servers again." I called out. I kept typing, hoping I had enough time to-

My laptop began laughing. It was a high-pitched sound, and it hurt my ears. "Fuck!" I screamed, smashed my fist into the table and slammed my laptop shut.

"What happened?" Wrench asked, walking out and meeting me in the living room.

"Someone got into our server again." I smacked my laptop again and Wrench snatched it off of the coffee table.

"Be nice to technology." He scolded. "It never did anything wrong to you."

I cursed under my breath and went back to the bedroom. I grabbed my phone and called Marcus. "Hey," I said, "Someone just got into my laptop."

"What?" He asked, but I continued talking.

"I was able to access their database for a minute, and it looks like they copied everything from our server."

"When?" He demanded.

"This happened like a minute ago." I said. "Where are you?"

"I'm at the Hackersapce." He said. "I just got here and everything seems normal."

I cursed and hung up the phone. "Wrench, we need-" I cut myself off when I went to the living room.

"Hello," I heard a familiar voice say. My blood ran cold, and my heart skipped a few beats. Wrench was unconscious on the floor, and my father stood over him. "I told you I'd be back."

"How are you here?" I asked, taking a step back. "You were arrested and-"

He smirked. "I am a very rich and powerful man." He took a step towards me. "I have some free time I can spend with you."

I turned and ran for the bedroom. I always kept a box cutter in my room and now, I knew it was my only hope. I kicked the door shut behind me and ran for the dresser drawer. I threw the drawer open and grabbed the yellow box cutter. The door slammed inward. "Here's Johnny!" He laughed manically. I turned and flashed the makeshift weapon.

"Stay away." I warned. "I'm not going through this again."

He looked at me with a mix of lust, pity, and annoyance. He ran at me and I swung my arm. I sliced his hand and he jumped back, cursing in pain. "You little-"

"I warned you!" I shouted, I reached down and hit 'redial'. "Now get out!" He laughed and came at me again. I dropped my phone and tried to cut him again, but this time he grabbed my hand and brought me to the floor. "Get off of me!" I screamed, but he had at least a hundred pounds on me. He flipped me over and wrapped his fingers around my throat.

"Just go to sleep." He spat. I felt panicked as my oxygen supply was cut off. Black dots appeared in my vision and it slowly consumed it all. That was the last thing I was aware of.

I woke up on a dirty cot. I was still in my t-shirt, but it was so soiled that it was almost unrecognizable. My neck was so swollen that I could hardly breath, let alone speak. I sat up, and found myself in a small, dark room. I stumbled over to the door and began banging on it. There was no response, I kicked it and cried out, not only in pain, but terror and anger. As I wailed, my throat became more and more raw.

I began looking more around the room, but found nothing else of substance. I crawled back to my cot and curled into the fetal position and waited for the worst.


	16. Chapter 16

I woke up on a dirty cot. I was still in my t-shirt, but it was so soiled that it was almost unrecognizable. My neck was so swollen that I could hardly breath, let alone speak. I sat up, and found myself in a small, dark room. I stumbled over to the door and began banging on it. There was no response, I kicked it and cried out, not only in pain, but terror and anger. As I wailed, my throat became more and more raw.

I began looking more around the room, but found nothing else of substance. I crawled back to my cot and curled into the fetal position and waited for the worst.

***

I don't know how long I laid there, but I must have fallen asleep at some point because when the door opened, I woke up. I was so startled that I fell back onto the floor, squeaking out a cry of pain. I watched helplessly as a man came closer and closer to me. "Hey," the voice said softly. "Easy there." It was my uncle, my father's brother. I tried to scream in protest, buy nothing came out. "You're alright. It's just your favorite Uncle Ian!"

I tried to back up, but the wall stopped me from doing so. I swatted his hands away, but he grabbed my wrists and kept them down. "You're alright. I'm not going to do anything to you." He slowly released me. "I came down here to make sure that you were alright." He brought a hand up to my face and slowly caressed my cheek. I flinched away and he frowned. "Is there anything you need?"

I nodded slowly, "Wa....t....er" I forced out. He looked at me with a pitiful gaze, then stood and exited the room. I waited until I was sure he was gone, then I scrambled to the door and tried to pull it open, again, no avail. I cursed in my head. I then began looking for something I could pry the door open with. Cot? No, the frame was plastic. There was a metal cabinet over in the right corner, but it was affixed to the wall. I pulled on the doors, but they were locked too. I turned around just as the door began opening. My uncle walked back in with a large glass of water. I had to fight the urge to run over and tackle him at the sight of that water.

He walked over to me and handed me the cup. I chugged my water in one, easy swig and handed the glass right back. He frowned, placed the glass on the cot, then took a tentative step towards me. "How do you feel?"

I wanted to scream How do you think I am feeling?! How do I look?! However my throat was too raw to speak so I settled for a scowl.

"Oh, right." He chuckled. "You probably aren't too well. IS it alright if I look at your neck?" He came forward but I flinched back. "Okay," He sighed, stepping back. "Your father wants to speak with you. He has been waiting for two days to see you."

I felt my eyebrows shoot up and my heart beat quicken. "Wh....at?" I croaked.

His face turned red. "Let's go upstairs." He reached for my elbow and I jerked back, falling on the ground. "Here, let me..." I tried to scoot away once again, but he slid his arm under me and began pulling me to his chest. I smacked his chest and tried to push away, but he just ignored me. He opened the door easily and began up the stairs. "Now listen, you r father has kind of... lost it. Please, keep this in mind." He frowned down at me. "I want to talk to you when this is all over." I glared at him but he adopted the 'puppy eyes'. " Please, I need to tell you some things. I have a lot to explain."

I frowned, but nodded as we made it to the top. It was brighter than expected, so my eyes squeezed shut just as I heard my father's hearty voice. "There you are!" He cried. "Sit, sit. I have waited a while for you to visit me. We are going to have a wonderful time!"


	17. Chapter 17

Before reading this chapter, please, follow me on Twitter @Eadlyen 

His smile was so broad it put the Cheshire Cat to shame. "How are you feeling? Do you need a cough drop? A glass of water?" I frowned, but nodded. "Both." I forced out.

He nodded at his brother who walked away. "Do you know where we are? No? Yes? Oh wait, you need water. Well I am so excited that I will just tell you. We are at our old house, before Blume really took off." He sighed and leaned back. "So many memories were made here. So much started here." Ian returned with a glass of water and small bag of cough drops. He handed both to me and I downed the glass of water once again. I popped a cough drop into my mouth and sighed as the pain subsided.

"How did... you get out...of-" I began, then shook my head. "Why am... I here?"

"To relive old memories!" He bellowed, standing up. "Don't you want to relive your childhood?"

"What time is it?" I asked, looking up at him.

He looked at his brother who glanced down at his watch. "11 at night."

"Isn't it past my bedtime then?" I asked, looking up innocently. "Or should I go work on Blume's code?"

He frowned. "You didn't start writing code until you were 14."

"You liked me better at 14." I countered. "I was more compliant."

"But not as innocent." My father frowned. He then began pacing back and forth. "Fine, go work on the code."

"Is the computer working?" I asked, looking at him skeptically.

"Yes." He sighed. "But I want Ian to move it to the basement with you. I don't trust you being up here this much. " Ian nodded and walked away, heading to the kitchen. "Look, I want to... rebuild our relationship from the bottom up."

"I think I'd like that." I smiled, trying to match his enthusiasm. "I'm going to head back downstairs now." I turned to leave, however his voice stopped me.

"I'll be down later for our private time."

I nodded and walked away without turning back to him. My legs were wobbling, I had tunnel vision and couldn't hear a thing, but I somehow made it back down to the basement. I collapsed on the bed and my vision began coming back. I closed my eyes until I heard the door open again. Lifting my head, I turned and found my Uncle stumbling down the stairs, his arm wrapped around the monitor, fingers tangled in the cords. Once he made it down, he placed everything on the ground and ran back up the stairs, reappearing a few minutes later with the desktop itself. "Look," He said as he stumbled back down to me. "He bribed his way out of jail, then kidnapped my daughter, and is forcing me to help him. I don't-"

"Wait," I sighed, "You have a daughter?"

He smiled, looking at his feet. "Yes, she is two, I got married a few years back."

"Where is she?" I asked, sitting up. "She isn't here, is she?"

He shook his head. "I'm not sure, he won't tell me anything." He started re-assembling the computer. "When you were little, I didn't want-"

"I don't want to talk about it." I snapped, shaking my head. "It's in the past. It doesn't matter if you wanted to or not, it happened."

"I really-"

"No! You covered his ass." I cried. "You're worse than he is. How many victims have you stopped from getting closure or justice?"

He focused on his work and didn't try to speak to me again. I watched as he plugged everything in and placed it on a dusty desk in the corner. Once he was done I walked over and turned the desktop on. I waited as the screen booted up, then the desktop appeared. I looked in the corner and cursed. "I need an enternet cable."

"You're not getting online." Ian laughed nervously. "And you do realize that Blume is up and running so you don't need to-"

"He wants me to write code, I need-"

"No." Ian snapped. "You are not getting online."

I frowned, turning to him. "You feel so bad about what happened to me, but you won't help me survive this maniac?"

"He has gone a bit off the rails..." Ian trailed off. "No, my daughter is on the line."

"I can find her." I whispered, leaning in. "I can get her to a safe place."

He scowled at me. "No, you're just a kid."

"Who built most of Blume's code." I retorted. "I stopped being a kid when you came into my room at night-"

"What do you think he did to me for years?!" He screamed. "Your aunt? He did it to all of us, you aren't special." Just as he stepped closer, the door flew open.

"What are you screamin' about?" My father bellowed, stomping down the stairs. I looked at Ian and dodged behind him.

"Nothing," Ian chuckled. "Everything is fine down here." My father paid no mind as he strode over to me.

"What. Is. Going. On." He demanded, shoving Ian aside and grabbing my shoulders.

"I... I.. I need internet to download the software in order to work on Blume's code." I explained, cowering slightly.

He laughed heartily. "Not going to happen. " He smacked me across the face, hard. I fell to the ground, mostly shocked, however my cheek still stung. He picked me up by my hair and he spat in my face. "Get to work."

I sat at the computer, staring. I felt myself reverting back to how I used to be, quiet, reserved, intimidated. After my father left the room, Ian just went and sat on my cot, he didn't say anything, he just sat there, staring just like me.

I jumped as I heard someone coming down the stairs. On instinct, I hopped out of the chair and picked it up, making my way to the stairwell. Just as I heard them come down the stairs, I swung as hard as I could. I heard a shout, then a body hit the floor. I peeked around the corner and saw a spike-clad Wrench lying on the floor, mask crack and he seemed to be unconscious.

I looked over at my uncle. "Shit." I muttered, dropping the chair.

 

 


	18. Chapter 18

 

My heart stopped as he hit the floor. "Who is this?" My uncle asked, eyes wide. "Who the hell is this?"

Ignoring him I fell to my knees and checked Wrench's chest. He seemed to be breathing so I sighed in relief. "It's a friend of mine." I sighed. "Help me hid him before your brother comes downstairs to see what that sound was." I grabbed an ankle, and so did Ian and we drug Wrench to a corner as my heart fluttered seeing him like this. Just as we tucked him tightly in a corner, I heard my father stomping around upstairs.

Ian and I froze, as we heard a door slam and water start. We took a breath of relief as we realized he wasn't coming downstairs. As if on que, Wrench groaned and began to sit up. "Where am I?" He asked, his mask flashing through all the emotions then settling on (~.~). He looked towards me and sounded confused. "Where have you been!"

"Here!" I shouted, instantly my annoyance slipped away and I rushed over and hugged him. He hugged me back as I collapsed into body-racking sobs. We sat there for a while, me sobbing and him just caressing my matted hair. After a while, my sobs stopped and I explained what had happened. Surprisingly, he didn't seem angry, he was extremely calm. "Wait, how did you get here?"

I could feel him tense up slightly. "I may or may not have placed a tracker in your forearm when you were drunk once."

"What?" I asked, jumping back slightly. "Why would you-" my hand flew up to my arm as the water upstairs shut off. We all froze as we heard the heavy footsteps head in the direction of the door.

"Stay hidden." I whispered to Wrench, then pushed him back into the corner. My uncle hadn't spoken a word, and just went back to where he was sitting earlier. I walked over to the broken chair, grabbing a sharp piece of metal and hiding it under me as I lay on the cot. I pretended to be asleep just as the door opened. My blood ran ice cold as I heard the door open and his heavy breathing. The air smelled of old, expired cologne and I knew he was coming downstairs for our "private time".

  
He walked over to me and moved some of my hair out of my face. My heart was going a mile a minute as he leaned in close. I squirmed as his breath met my ear. I suddenly reverted back to my younger self. "Please, daddy, not again." I whispered, tears slipping out.

"I haven't seen you in so long." He said, his hand found my ankle and pulled It down. I heard a shuffle in the corner and snapped back to my adult self. I pulled the metal weapon from under me and stabbed hi in the throat. He jumped back, gagging, choking on his own blood. He made some grotesque sounds as he stumbled backwards. I sat up, horrified as he slammed into the computer, then toppled to the floor. I cried as he twitched, groaned, then his whole body gave in and stopped moving. I pulled my knees to my chest as the tears flowed freely. Ian scrambled to his feet, screaming as his brother died before him.

"What did you do?" He screamed, turning to me. "What have you done!" He reached up and shook my shoulders. "Why would you do that!" Just then Wrench came up behind him and ripped him off of me. My uncle was a small man, but he still fought to get to me. "I don't know where my daughter is!" He cried. "Where is she? He knew! And now he is dead!"

I stared into a corner as Wrench argued with Ian, I wasn't understanding any of the words exchanged. Suddenly, as If on its own, my body slid off the cot and crouched by the bloodied man. I reached down and picked up his wrist, checking for a pulse. There was nothing. Nothing left. The nightmare was over and it was that easy. A piece of metal stuck out of his neck, and I stared at it for a while. I heard foot steps go up the stair, then familiar hands on my shoulders. Wrench lifted me up, led me up the stairs and outside. There was a small black car which he set me in, then called 911. There was no hiding this. My father was too high profile.

We waited for the police to arrive as I began to come out of my shock. "What is happening." I said. It wasn't a question, it was my brain trying to muddle through the last ten minutes. "Why can't it stop. This isn't over, it won't end, it will never end. I can ever be happy I need to –"

"Stop." Wrench said, cutting off my rambling. "You're not helping yourself."

"It won't stop. I was fine, I was happy, but then I had to get involved." I rambled on as if he hadn't said anything. "Why did I do this to myself."

"Please don't make me smack you." He said, shaking his head. "

"I don't know why or what happened, all I remember is shoving that rod through his-"

A hand met my face. "You did what you had to do." Wrench said. "Now please stop. My head is killing me."

That slap did more help then harm I have to admit. I looked at the man sitting in the car next to me and ripped his mask off. He was bleeding pretty badly, not only from a few cuts on his face, but also his nose. I must have hit him harder than I had thought. "Are you alright?" I asked as he pulled the broken mask back onto his face.

"Killer headache." He said. "I did get knocked out with a chair." He leaned back as the sirens grew closer. I frowned as he seemed to be relaxing after such an odd response from him. I got out of the car as they grew closer. Leaning against the car, I sighed as the first car stopped. I put my hands up to show that I had no weapons and waited as they got out of the car.

I explained what happened and they went in and found my Uncle Ian sobbing on the floor, holding a video camera. His daughter wasn't there. The police found the body of my father, and placed Wrench and I in the back of separate ambulances. I waved to him as they loaded me up and he waved back. They allowed him to keep the mask on until we made it to the hospital; then he had to take it off. They ended up sedating him.

He had a major concussion, and I had to stay for a few days while they did kit after kit, test after test. I was interviewed dozens of times. I still didn't know if I was being charged with anything, and that was terrifying.

On the day of my hospital release, Wrench picked me up. He had been discharged on his second day. He seemed to have fixed his mask, and his expression was happy. He pulled me straight into a hug. We stood there in the parking lot for while, hold each other.

"Let's go home." I smiled.

 


End file.
